Scent of the Levant

صدر

2011-07-06T04:15:00.000-07:00

As I exit a world of maternal affection
I find myself coming into a fixation of fetishes and facades
Carefree buds of adolescence contrasting
Underwire and bustiers of adulthood
The bosom tends to conceal the heart
With a superficial uber thin wall
Tightening the fickle strings into a perfect knot
An interior like cavity bound together with flesh
Easily broken with the slightest touch of the tip of an index finger
Carnality at its best
Frontage supported
Stuffed with extra padding and tissue
Synthetics make a comeback
Implanted subconsciously and almost forcefully
Asymmetrical in beauty
Each of them distinct in proportion
Nonconformity has never looked so divine
Silicon compressed
Withering and decaying into a shallow pool
of alabaster, of ivory, of froth

It was only two percent …

An epiphany or just a sign of maturity?

2011-07-05T18:49:00.000-07:00

So, I've supposedly changed my major. My dreams of becoming a world renowned journalist and activist have withered. Since the age of fourteen or fifteen, about the time that I started this blog, writing was the only pastime that I knew. Why is it that now I dread the thought of writing a critical analysis essay on George Orwell's Politics and the English Language, yet I can enjoy countless hours of random facts about nutrition and biology? It's not to say that I've completely abandoned any form of literature related activities or interests, as I am a staunch fan of Middle Eastern fiction and Spoken Word Poetry Readings.I'm taking two summer courses, English 300 and Nutrition and I'm enjoying the latter much more than the former.It was a way to get out of another tiring and stressful vacation overseas with overbearing relatives, and instead spend it alone in retrospection and gluttony.

However, as a career I'm not too sure if it's what I really want to pursue. For the longest time I had this ring of stubbornness floating around my head.I thought that getting a degree in a field that one wasn't passionate about was the most unethical thing one can do.I wanted to be able to have my job be my hobby as well.But when reality hit me, my perspective started to change.Some guy once told me,"those who aren't majoring in marketable degrees shouldn't be going to school". I don't remember his exact words, but it was something along those lines. I am by no means advocating for that, but I think a woman has to do what a woman needs to do. If I'm going to learn how to get over my "Damsel in Distress Syndrome" and stop thinking that marriage is the only way I'll actually have a life, I need to start learning how to depend on myself....

6 minutes left

2011-02-01T23:54:00.000-08:00

I only have mere minutes left.... shit I'll be twenty.

HAS IT BEEN A YEAR?

2010-07-01T01:47:00.000-07:00

This is a disgrace... sheer insanity! It looks like I haven't blogged in over a year.

Am I really here?

2009-06-12T14:07:00.000-07:00

So I haven't blogged in a few months, I know...

But I guess I'm in Beirut right now or to be more specific Khalde(Abu Deeb street)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khalde

Everything just seemed to have happened so fast,I was just packing my bags a few hours ago, literally.The plane ride was a complete trance of nausea and sleeplessness, but to my satisfaction Dubai had some of the most convenient bathrooms I've seen at an airport yet..It was my first time taking a non stop flight, it was supposedly 15 hours but due to technical difficulties it was more like 18.I watched three Lebanese films, two which were directed by Marwan Najjar and of course the award winning, "Caramel".

When we finally arrived in Beirut, all of the passengers were dashing out of their seats, and the flight attendants were screeching for everyone to sit down.Regardless of how long one stays abroad in the diaspora, once you set foot back in Lebanon all boundaries are broken.

The airport was a tad bit of a disappointment for me there as there was no toilet paper, or paper towels! Right after our passports were stamped we had to get our bags searched.I didn't quite understand why and I told my dad to just go ahead and that it was unnecessary.But he went anyways and got in some sort of misunderstanding with the security.It was funny how he kept referring to my dad as "kareem". I felt as if we were in Sryia, no offense to any Syrians but your checkpoints are a living nightmare! And then as we were exiting the airport my bag got caught in the automatic turning glass door and it started beeping,I hope they dont have cameras.

it's official

2009-02-02T00:12:00.000-08:00

2/2

12:12

I cried on my 18th birthday. I thought 17 was such a nice age. You're young enough to get away with things, but you're old enough, too ~ Liv Tyler

notes from the bus

2009-01-31T19:19:00.000-08:00

Opening my keepsake box, reminiscing on the past...letters, postcards,ticket stubs, and photos.I find a particularly thought-provoking note.Two years ago... why had I waited so long to reply? There could have been more then a hundred and one reasons why I couldn't contact you.I should have let it go, but I decided to hold on.I feel sorry for what an unsentimental person you are.You have absolute zero knowledge on the essence of nostalgia.Your decaying memory is utterly despairing.

Once again my earnest intentions of a simple hello have been misinterpreted for harassment.

Hello is this " " ?

Who's asking?

Well I am just wondering if this was " " , that's all.If I have the wrong number please let me know.

How did you get my number and why are you calling me?

Well I was looking through some of my old papers and I found your number.

WHAT, when did I give you my number?

About two years ago on the bus.

So you're telling me that I gave you my number and after two years you decided to call me?

Yeah

I don't know why you are calling me or what the hell you want from me.First of all why would I take the bus if I have a car?

I don't know

What bus was this?

To " "

What did I look like then how tall was I?

Well I don't exactly remember I mean it was two years ago.Why don't you just save us both the trouble and tell me if your name is really " " or not.

background noises: Just tell her you're married
Here talk to my daughter

Coming of Age

2009-01-09T14:59:00.000-08:00

I have been counting the days ... and today marks the end of the first week of the new year. Three weeks left until I am an adult ... a full fledged member of society. I will be 18.

As accustomed when a birthday proceeds to slither and lurk around, the typical questions are asked. My answer is freedom and respect.

So does my period of adolescence end once I turn 18? Do I began to take complete responsibility for my actions or do I still get an allowance of two more years to discover myself, considering that the particular suffix "teen" is still attached to me for a little while longer? I never had much of a fulfilling childhood and now my so called “teenage hood” is over as well .I’m rebelling.

I can’t conceive the idea that I actually started this blog three years ago. I often go back and read posts from the previous years and laugh, thinking how something of such frivolity could be of any importance. I am always tempted to delete them but then I pause… and let them be. I keep them there to see my progression throughout time, I suppose. I want to change the name of my blog and the layout. I have been debating this for months now.

It's been a while since I have really written anything... Could be writers block, possibly loss of confidence, or post partum depression. Maybe even a bit of bi polar or borderline personality disorder. I just love to label myself.I have more than I can bear to hold in one palm to reflect upon. I seem to be at ease with my expression via short stories.

People have accused me of being evasive or a communist because I usually jump and plunge from topic to topic. But they cannot apprehend or even began to perceive what is in my head. They do not know that my thoughts are overflowing and tend to accidently spill, dripping leaving trails of my presence and aspirations.The past few years of my life have consisted of complete obsession with marriage and other sort of explorations that shall not be named (hint starts with the letter "s").

I have made a compromise to postpone marriage for a few years but I will not postpone my education as well. I’ll be willing to forget about marriage for a while if you allow me to drown in an endless pool of books, reading and only coming to the shallow surface for a breath of air.

You accuse me of wanting to grow up too fast. I know what I want from life and I’m going to get it, that’s all it really is. Some things have become more or less of a priority for me. Maybe my ultra passive personality has forced me to have an aggressive outlook on life. I can change my mind as I please, so I am kindly asking you not to interfere with my changes. “A wise man changes his mind, a fool never”

Being Arab has never felt so arbitrary for me. I’m not losing my religion I just refuse to associate myself with sectarianistic ideologies and live off an illusion called Arab nationalism.

I hear the news in the background

Sofien’s Voyage to San Francisco

2008-12-10T20:32:00.000-08:00

The dusty roads of Ben Arous were filled with young boys and girls playing ball. Humidity diffused the air as sweat trickled down their olive skinned foreheads.

"Sofien come inside the cous cous is getting cold, you can play football later”, beckoned his mother.

Sofien cantered as fast as he could, envisioning the melting morsels of semolina in his mouth. Alas, he arrived removing his shoes by the door and sitting crossed legged aside his younger siblings eating supper.

Sofien and his friend Muneer were in the university café drinking mint tea as they saw an ad posted on the front wall. Une fois de temps en temps la vie voyage, gagner deux billets pour l’Amerique…

“We have to find a way to raise money for that trip”, said Sofien.

Muneer lightheartedly laughed at Sofien and said, “Ya sadiqi Sofien you are majnoun! Yalla lets go to class.”

After class Sofien sauntered home slowly and contemplated the ad, determinedly he walked to the city to look for a job. Throughout the two months Sofien worked as a delivery boy in the afternoon and studied at night. With a week left until the trip Sofien and Muneer still didn’t have enough money. Sofien called his uncle in France to send him 500 francs, begged his brother for 800 dinars, and then received 1,600 Deutsche Marks from a friend in Germany.

Counting the money on the cold damp kitchen floor they were short of exactly one dinar, Sofien and Muneer began too look ubiquitously. The house muddled and cluttered, Sofien inexplicably found a dinar in his back pocket.

The week until December 23 was ceaseless perpetuity that felt to have no end. With Sufien’s bags packed, shirt neatly ironed and tucked in; his mother kissed him on his forehead as a tear seeped through her ebony colored eyes on to her cheek.

"May God be with you my dearest son”, cried Sofien’s mother: as she waved goodbye.

Rushing to find a taxi on time to get to the airport, they haggled with the taxi driver and were on their way to Tunis-Carthage International Airport. Sofien and Muneer were the last two people to board on flight 747. There weren’t any seats left in the economy class section, so they were given first class seats. The plane ride to New York was an envisagement of euphoric rapture. The first thing their eyes caught sight of was Times Square; the hotel was only about 6 or 7 blocks away.

As they arrived to the hotel, they set their luggage down in the far corner of the room and spotted 2 bottles of champagne on the bed. Sofien and Muneer both gave each other witty looks; they had an idea. They had heard partying a few doors down as they were on their way up to their hotel. So Sofien and Muneer knocked, and a man with a tie around his head and vomit on his shirt opened the door.

"Hello Mr. would you like to buy these bottles of champagne from us” cachinnated, Sofien.

"Ya… Ya … wait one minute… pal… let me get my uh… cash”, slurred the intoxicated man.

The amount of money that the man handed Sofien and Muneer was rather hefty. They both divided the money equally. Sofien bought a ticket to San Francisco while Muneer moved to the South End of Boston.

As Sufien began walking between the intersection of Haight and Ashbury, he came across a petite sized restaurant called Le Kerkennah. Sufien ordered a plate of cous cous and merguez, the food tasted distinctively familiar. As he closed his eyes, he remembered playing football outside with his friends on the dusty road of Ben Arous while his mother was calling him inside to eat lunch.

Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to ~ John Ed Pearce

2008-08-19T22:10:00.000-07:00

I have demised to remember what I was looking for. Am I searching for something that I’m afraid to find? I thought that if I got lost, I would find myself. Nothing and everything feels like home. Where exactly do I belong? To which ism do I relate to?

Emotionless and numb. I’m tired, bent, and broken. What do I have to lose? Taking myself for granted in moments of frustration. Advantages of the innocent. Hiding from the world... Escaping in my own desperate insanity; wandering in my diminutive pandemia.

This forbidden adrenaline rush is iniquitous, but it feels so concupiscence. Guilty with pleasure. Superficial power. Getting high off an illusion.

Too numb to apprehend. How can I have a sense of right and wrong if I’m not alive anymore? How can I write about life when I’m not living a tale to tell?

Wake me up from this dream. Arouse me insightfully. Induce my unconscious emotions.

Echoing voice in the back of my head

I only wanted love
Longing aesthetics
The nature of sensation

Talks of food, الجنس ,and family: eat, love, and pray. I used to live off a prayer.

When will tonight come?

Why am I waiting?

2008-07-24T12:49:00.000-07:00

This was an interview that I did a few months back.It was my first ever via telephone.My voice was trembling; I was quite nervous and in awe with admiration that I could barely speak.

Interview with Sharif Abdunnur

A very good friend of Al Nabad and a multi talented artist; Sharif Abdunnur is a genuine writer, director, teacher, actor, counselor, and lecturer. The soft spoken and very handsome Abdunnur told us a little about his current projects and gave us an inside scoop about his personal life.

Q: Did you have interest in fine arts as a child?

A: As a child I used to paint a lot and I won several awards for drawing. My interest in fine arts began when I was a little older.

Q: You were born in Lebanon and moved in the United States while you were younger, what made you move back to Lebanon?

A: I lived all around the world but the closest thing to home was Lebanon . Ideally I would like to go back to Palestine . But unfortunately I can only go as a tourist.

Q: What were some of the places that you traveled to while you were a child?

A: My family and I traveled all around the sates and we often went to Iraq because my father had work there.

Q: Your parents were members of the UN; did that inspire to write the play Unacceptable?

A: Not really. I think world relief organizations have failed to produce any real achievements and are not making any effective changes in the world, and their failure to make any significant changes in the world despite their billions of dollars that they have. Just like any other organization is audited I think the UN should be audited as well.

Q: On an average how often do you produce or write plays?

A: I am constantly writing and every couple weeks I write plays. But it takes a lot of time to produce plays, so not every thing I write is always made into a project that is produced.
Pain and conflict can sometimes be inspirations for writing.

Q: What do you think of theater in the Middle East?

A: It has a lot of space. Theater in the Middle East really needs to be supported by the local government. And with film it’s hard to complete with Hollywood . So the only way to preserve our true identity as Arabs is through theater.

Q: When you are acting do you ever get stage fright?

A: Yes, every single time. It’s actually a great way to loose weight.

Q: How has the war affected your work? And if it has, has it affected you positively or negatively?

A: I grew up on the front lines and have experienced war since I was a young child. War has made me realize what my main priorities are. It has been such a big factor and supplement in my life.

Q: What is it like working with Jawad al Assadi?

A: He is a good friend and a great man. He is one of the toughest directors out there because he is constantly creating and recreating. I’m currently the director of his new theater Babel . It has been very nice working with him even though he is a tough cookie.

Q: Who do you enjoy working the most with in theater?

A: I enjoy working the most with kids and teens, and especially with the children in the refugee camps. I consider my work more of a passion than just a career. It is truly a unique and wonderful feeling working with the kids.

Q: Who are some of your influences?

A: I like a lot of artists and painters but my number one inspiration and idle is my mother. I really look up to her a lot.

Q: You are a writer, director, teacher, actor, counselor, and lecturer, how are you able to manage your time?

A: The truth is my personal life is my work. Most of my work is not paid for, only the lecturing at the university. The people at my work are friends and not just colleagues.

Q: What does laughter mean to you?

A: Laughter is the ultimate escape. It can cure many things from frustration to anger and sadness. The beauty is when you laugh you can’t focus on anything else but just laughing. The whole world just fades away and you can’t feel anything but happiness.
Even if you are in the worst of situations once you start laughing you forget everything.
It’s a really magical feeling.

Q: Can you relate to any of the characters in some of the plays that you have written?

A: With anything that I write, the characters personally reflect me or are a part of my life. I couldn’t write anything that is not genuine.

Q: What achievements do you think you are most famously well known for?

A: Internationally I think it would be Laughter Under the Bombs; a book documenting the war in 2006 as well as looking at drama as a from of therapy. Also The Secret Life of a Woman and The Secret’s of Men; which addressed male and female sexuality in the Arab world and the issues and pressures that come with it.

Personally I enjoy working as a circus clown juggler. I like going to the refugee camps and performing for the children. It’s spontaneous and unplanned and brings a smile to the children’s face which brings so much joy into life.

Q: How has drama therapy helped young adults with coping with the war and dealing with stress in general?

I had the young adults work with the children. And I think it really helped them gain confidence and gave them a sense of purpose in life, because it’s a lot easier to worry about someone else than to worry about yourself. As a child I learned that you need to enjoy and live your life regardless of what is happening around you.

http://www.theatreversusoppression.com/biosharif.htm

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/808/cu2.htm

matrimonial ennui

2008-07-19T12:18:00.000-07:00

Sitting here in my bed listening to Depeche Mode and eating toasted wheat bread, Kashkaval Cyprus cheese, and cranberries. Crumbs are all over the sheets; but its about time I put them in the wash anyways. As I was walking to my room with a plate in my hands I saw the mailman. I'm not quite sure and cant explain why; but we always seem to exchange glances.

Its already mid July and I feel that my summer has just passed me by. I've been spending alot of my time on matrimonial websites and social networks.And I'm just starting to get fed up with it all. It's too tiring and time consuming. I can't even write a decent personal :

Here is my second attempt at this website. I assume I was just wrong in my approach.There is nothing wrong with walking the path less traveled on. But I choose to suffer instead of giving in. How long can one endure? I refuse to change my values just to please the majority. But this solitary confinement I have trapped myself in; I am unable to distinguish between the norm and ersatz. I am basically looking for a companion who doesn’t necessarily have the same ideology but at least accepts mine. It’s not about finding the perfect person, its trying to see an imperfect person perfectly.

Strange love

Unusual girl

Pain heals

Peculiar feelings

Is it true that when you lose yourself in someone else you find yourself?

Free Omar Khadr

2008-07-17T01:05:00.000-07:00

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2008/07/15/jonathan-kay-free-omar-khadr.aspx

let me be

2008-05-20T23:47:00.000-07:00

What is people’s problem, literally? Why doesn’t anybody understand me? Whether I do what is right or what is wrong .It seems as if I cannot win either way. It appears as if it’s a lost cause every time. I could effortlessly take the easy way out and make a mistake, which I might possibly regret. But I’m trying to choose the lesser of the two evils. I want to try and attempt with my best effort to do what is right. But how can I be blamed for trying to do what is correct? I think it’s my right as a human being to be granted this decision of my choice. Why am I being deprived of my right; of the right to make a decision? Who are you to say who I am, or who I am not? If I do not understand myself how can you understand me? The false judgment.

And who are you to try to give me the speech of a lifetime about the birds and the bees all of a sudden? When I felt that I have been ignored almost half of my lifetime. Thinking that you can shut me up with your materialistic plugs… Well it's not about having what you want.Its about wanting what you have.Its better late than never. Well I disagree. There sometimes comes a point and time in life where it’s just a little too late and some things just don’t have the same taste. Things don’t stay the same. Almost everything is ever changing and goes through cycles of transformations and alterations. So I don’t think marriage could possibly have the same taste now, as it would later.

Let’s vent. Let’s just say what’s on our minds. Why not? Who really cares if what I’m saying makes sense or not. I’m just too fed up to care if anything is logically or politically correct. I think that I might be destined to be on my own in this world. I have to learn how to depend on myself because apparently I haven’t been given the support that I actually need, let alone want. The feeling of abandonment can become so tiring. Seriously.

I’m just so sick and tired of everything. Running away from my problem won’t solve a thing. But what happens if my problem is just irresolvable? Do I continue to dwell on something that has no solution? But there may be some sort of hidden and unconscious resolution to what is occurring. And I may not discover it till after the fact. What happens if this so called problem comes back to haunt me? Or, if it continues to expand? I have the solution.

I honestly think that I might have a fraction of the solution at least. Whether temporarily or for the long run, at least it’s a foot in the right direction. Shouldn’t I be given credit for trying to do what is right? Why do we tend to focus on the negative and pass up all that is positive? The world.

We need to focus more on our strengths than our weaknesses. I do not want to boast or brag. But I know I have potential to do so much more. I think I can make a difference in the world. Regardless of how big or small the change is. It’s something, its effort invested for the better. There are so many elements that I have not quite tapped into yet. I know I have been disregarding some very important aspects. But I necessitate for some sort of assistance that I’m not able to attain at this point of time.

They say that when you marry you complete half of your religion. Something so beautiful so grand. Why endlessly wait for such an opportunity? Why let it pass me by? I could wait. But the question is why? Everyone is different. And the world is a bunch of preferences.

Why don’t you just let me be world? Could running free somewhat help me out of this despair? Or could it just bring me in a deeper whole of misery than what I am already in? What defines right and wrong? And who are we as the creations to delineate. If God is the most merciful and compassionate why are we as humans so unmerciful and uncompassionate? If God can forgive than who are we not to forgive? We are born pure and wholesome but as we mature we seem to become more ruthless by the minute. Why does age do this to us? Some of us wise and some of us just never seem to develop. It’s true that good things come to those who wait. But how long can we endure to do nothing and expect something to happen? Is there something wrong with me? Honestly. What is my problem or predicament? Tell me ….

You know what. Just be quiet. Don’t say anything at all. Yes humankind. I’m asking for a moment of silence. Lets all take a moment of silence to just indulge in the moment. And give me my 15 minutes of fame to not make a fool of myself, but rather to just say what’s on my mind and express how I feel. It’s not a matter of who is correct and who is not, but its just stating my point and where I stand. Whether you agree with me or not, intuition can be in my posse of contemplations. And I can only take so much. But one day I might just do as I please whether it pleases others or not. I need to look out for my benefit. Selfishness and self indulgence is what you may think.

Let me be free for once in my lifetime. You can’t keep me in a throttle forever. What’s the worst that can happen? Making a mistake and then learning from it.

Let me be

recap

2008-04-30T23:52:00.000-07:00

1. April 17, Political Prisoner's Day
2. April 20, Cannabis Day ... don't ask how I found out about that
3. April 22, Earth Day
4. April 24, Genocide Remembrance Day
5. May 8, Remembrance of Al Nakba - going to a protest on the 11th

I went to this confrence on the 25th, and might I say, I was rather impressed! Many of the things mentioned were not foreign to me, but it was nice that I could relate. I'll write some sort of article or little essay about it in depth later on.

Fed up with politics, man eats vote

2008-04-17T17:10:00.000-07:00

NAPLES (Reuters) - Ballot stuffing took on a new meaning in Italy's parliamentary election on Sunday when a man ate his ballot paper in protest at the country's politicians.

Police in Naples said they had charged the 41-year-old businessman with destroying election materials. He said all Italian politicians and politics "are crap" and that he was protesting "against the system."

(Reporting by Laura Viggiano; Writing by Phil Stewart)

April 17th - Palestinian prisoners day

2008-04-17T12:41:00.000-07:00

Wear black in Solidarity with Palestinian Political Prisoners- Everywhere.. - Window Into Palestine

Freud on the Arab-Israeli conflict

2008-04-03T19:11:00.000-07:00

Vienna: 26 February 1930: Letter to the Keren Hajessod (Dr. Chaim Koffler)

Freud would not have been surprised at the continuing conflict in the Middle East. He predicted as much 70 years ago.

We can predict Freud’s response because of a letter he wrote to Dr. Chaim Koffler in 1930.

In February 1930 Freud was asked, as a distinguished Jew, to contribute to a petition condemning Arab riots of 1929, in which over a hundred Jewish settlers were killed. This was his reply:

Letter to the Keren Hajessod (Dr. Chaim Koffler)

Vienna: 26 February 1930

Dear Sir,

I cannot do as you wish. I am unable to overcome my aversion to burdening the public with my name, and even the present critical time does not seem to me to warrant it. Whoever wants to influence the masses must give them something rousing and inflammatory and my sober judgement of Zionism does not permit this. I certainly sympathise with its goals, am proud of our University in Jerusalem and am delighted with our settlement’s prosperity. But, on the other hand, I do not think that Palestine could ever become a Jewish state, nor that the Christian and Islamic worlds would ever be prepared to have their holy places under Jewish care. It would have seemed more sensible to me to establish a Jewish homeland on a less historically-burdened land. But I know that such a rational viewpoint would never have gained the enthusiasm of the masses and the financial support of the wealthy. I concede with sorrow that the baseless fanaticism of our people is in part to be blamed for the awakening of Arab distrust. I can raise no sympathy at all for the misdirected piety which transforms a piece of a Herodian wall into a national relic, thereby offending the feelings of the natives.

Now judge for yourself whether I, with such a critical point of view, am the right person to come forward as the solace of a people deluded by unjustified hope.

Your obediant servant,

Freud

source:
www.dandelionsalad.wordpress.com

a sneaky trip

2008-03-29T23:13:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, when I was about 4 or 5,I wanted to go to the store with my father; but he said that I couldn't go.I wanted to go no matter what, even if I had to throw a fit! I wasn't going to stay at home...

While I was trying to convince my dad to let me go, the phone rang.It might have been a long distance call from one of his friends, because he was on the phone for quite a while.As he was on the phone, I began to contemplate my trip to the store.

I'm not sure how the idea came to my head, but I decided to sneak in to the car and hide.My dad's jacket was in the backseat, and I was small enough to hide under it unnoticed.As the car stopped and my dad took the keys out of the ignition,I jumped out from under the jacket.

I remember my dad being absolutely perplexed, but I was more than delighted that I got my trip to the store.

Ageh Ye Rooz by Faramarz Aslani

2008-03-26T13:30:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite persian songs and I have finally found the translation of the lyrics!

If one day...

If one day you leave me
out of the blue
and go away on a trip
leaving me alone once again
I'll tell the night to stay with me
I'll tell the wind to sing until dawn
a song from my beloved's land
why are you leaving me alone?

If you forget me
and leave my embrace
I'll become a sea bird
released in the grip of the waves
I'll hush my heart to silence
I'll urge the wind to sing until dawn
a song from my beloved's land
where I won't be left alone
If one day your name
rings in my ear again
If one day your name captures me again
I'll urge my heart not to fret
so I can soothe the pain
but the pain takes over my body
so I can sing for you again

If you desire me once again
as your lover
like in the old days
when we sat until dawn
your heart ought to gain colour
and a tune again
ought to get the colour of a land
where I won't be left alone again

If you want to stay with me
come back while we're still young
and still have skin coverin my bones
Don't leave my heart alone
Let colour into my darkness
and give my night a tune
give me the colour of that land
where I won't be left alone again

Man or Animal?

2008-03-10T01:22:00.000-07:00

Man is the reasoning animal. Such is the claim. – Mark Twain

Humans differ from other animals in terms of mental capacity and intellect. From a biological point of view, humans are classified as animals. It is a biological classification system designed to categorize organisms in groups according to their characteristics. Therefore, biologically we are members of the Anamalia Kingdom.

The definition of an animal is: any member of the kingdom Animalia, comprising multi cellular organisms that have a well-defined shape and usually limited growth, can move voluntarily, actively acquire food and digest it internally, and have sensory and nervous systems that allow them to respond rapidly to stimuli: some classification schemes also include protozoa and certain other single-celled eukaryotes that have motility and animal like nutrition modes.

In an entire niche, a variety of animals can live together pleasantly and harmoniously, but if people from different religions and nationalities were put together in one room the outcome would be chaos and possibly even death.

Humans are the only flag-wavers. Man separates himself from others by nationalism, and looks down on others from distinctive ethnic groups and races. I wonder if a monkey would laugh at a lion for being more harrier?

Humans are oblivious followers. They follow political figures, doctrines, and ideas without knowing the reason for following them. When animals follow each other in a herd or a flock, they follow each other to stay together in order to keep other members from getting lost. Humans affiliate and identify themselves with parties and assemblies to separate from one another.

Humans have so called “unalienable rights”; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Dictators and tyrannical rulers seemingly think they have absolute power over everything and everyone, and greedily deceive citizens by making them believe that their interest’s lies in the well being of the country. Like in communism for example, where the government controls everything and the people receive very little if anything.

Humans set out on hunting excavations to shoot animals and leave them out to rot just for their amusement, while animals do their job to search for food with no intention on harming the animals, but merely to satisfy their hunger. Humans wantonly destroy what they have no use for.

Eating is a necessity for all living things, but when humans kill animals for the sake of fashion instead of provisions now that’s just a waste. Do we really need snake skin stilettos and fur coats? I mean you wouldn’t see a bear wearing leopard skin underwear or an ape wearing a dog fur purse?

Humans can never be satisfied no matter how much materials or resources they have, it’s never enough. Animals can only gather so much for their winter’s supply, but they don’t continuously accumulate until they start to plunge.

Human’s have the need to acquire more than they need just for the purpose of presentation and appearance.

If you feed and care for an animal, the animal will learn to trust you and show its affection. Yet if you feed a starving human, when he is full he will bite the hand that fed him and forget all the good that was given to him when prosperous.

Lewdness, profanity, and vulgarity, these are all attributes that humans have made. Animals are just animals, what better do they know? We are the highest and most elevated of all the creatures, yet we don’t always seem to act like so. We were granted with the gifts of reason and rationality, but sometimes are actions contradict that.

The concept of revenge is unknown to animals yet humans take revenge with the passion, and practice torture and oppression among others. Man is the one who is vindictive and malicious. He receives gratification from the pain that he causes others. If a cat plays with a mouse, the cat has the excuse that she may not know that the mouse is suffering. The cat might just scare the mouse or even eat it. The cat doesn’t torture the mouse by gouging it eyes out, tearing off its skin, or scratching it till death.

“Men are not gentle, friendly creatures wishing for love, who simply defend themselves if they are attacked, but that a powerful measure of desire for aggression has to be reckoned as part of their instinctual endowment.The result is that their neighbor is to them not only a possible helper or sexual object, but also a temptation to them to gratify their aggressiveness on him, to exploit his capacity for work without recompense, to use him sexually without his consent, to seize his possessions, to humiliate him, to cause him pain, to torture and to kill him."

-Sigmund Freud

In my opinion, human’s only superiorities are their intellect and sense of reason which is seldom used.

I'm not celebrating valentine's

2008-02-14T12:14:00.000-08:00

The concept of valentine's day is quite idiotic, if you ask my opinion.So today is the day we love each other, and the rest of the 364 days out of the year we hate each other? Let's love each other everyday, not just on valentine's.Beware of contaminated e-cards.The love bug might be spreading around.

Prophet said: "You shall not enter Paradise so long as you do not affirm belief (in all those things which are the articles of faith), and you will not believe as long as you do not love one another. Should I not direct you to a thing which, if you do, will foster love amongst you: (i.e.) give currency to (the practice of paying salutation to one another by saying) As-Salaamu Alaykum."

early spring

2008-02-14T10:39:00.000-08:00

As I was walking to class, I saw nature doing what it does best after the winter season. I’ve seen it before on the discovery channel or other educational programs, but I've never actually witnessed it with my own two eyes. I have to say it was pretty amazing. I would have stayed and observed for a longer time, if I wasn’t already late to class. I usually see squirrels around while I’m sitting on that bench near the library after school. But the other day they were getting rather promiscuous.

sticks of wonder

2008-02-06T01:37:00.000-08:00

The believing we do something when we do nothing is the first illusion of tobacco. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

When smoking comes to my mind I think of the famous bourgeoisie actor Audrey Hepburn, and how classy she looks puffing her lengthy cigarette. In my mind I always contradicted my father when he said women especially, should not be smoking.

The box of Marlboro lights were sitting on the kitchen table with a bright crimson lighter beside it. Someone had apparently forgotten their carton of cigarettes on the table. I took no notice of the carton but on the second day my eyes were laid on the carton and wondered why anyone hadn’t taken them.

I opened the carton to find one single cigarette left inside. I pondered whether or not I should do it, because there was only one cigarette left. It was too obvious. If the carton was full then it wouldn’t be as noticeable. I walked back and fourth contemplating what would happen if I smoked the cigarette. It was too enticing… I was home alone, there was only one left, it looked so perfect so precise, and flavorful.

My temptation was greater than my conformity. I opened the box of Marlboro and went outside in the backyard and attempted to smoke my first cigarette. I couldn’t believe that I had actually done it. I didn’t have a clue how to light the cigarette and I definitely didn’t know how to hold it. I was struggling with the cigarette the whole time, but I somehow managed to smoke the entire thing. After I was finished I wasn’t sure whether I had actually accomplished something or whether I had just made a big mistake.

I went back into the house and opened the windows, sprayed air freshener everywhere, took a shower, brushed my teeth, and splashed some perfume on; hoping to hide the evidence.

My father came home from work that night, got the mail, and sat at the kitchen table.

“Where is the carton of cigarettes?”
“Oh uh I threw them away there was nothing inside.”
“What do you mean you threw them away? There was still one left. Did you smoke? “
“And why are the windows open you’re usually so cold.”

There was a moment of silence between us and then I replied with a remorseful yes.

It was too obvious and if I lied I would be making a fool out of myself. The carton of cigarettes where gone and the windows were wide open. I didn’t think anyone was going to notice the missing carton of cigarettes, because they were sitting on the table for such a long time. I was being overly cautious when I opened the windows since I smoked the cigarette outside.

I felt a cloud of guilt flouting over my head as I was chewing gum to rid of the atrocious after taste left in my mouth. I was deceived; it looked so good yet tasted so bad. My father didn’t scold or punish me, although I was kind of expecting him to. He just said that he hoped I would never do it again. It was my first cigarette and I’m anticipating for it to be the last.

We all know and have been told numerous times about the hazardous affects of smoking, but do we really know what are inside these sticks of wonder? There must be more than just tobacco in a cigarette for it to cause all of these fatal and deadly cancerous diseases.

There are about 599 other ingredients in cigarettes other than tobacco. Here are just a few of the many ingredients:

Acetone: Fingernail polish removal
Ammonia: Floor/toilet cleaner
Angelica root extract: Known to cause cancer in animals
Arsenic: Used in rat poisons
Butane: Gas: Used in lighter fluid
Carbon monoxide: Poisonous gas/car exhaust fumes
Cadmium: Used in batteries and paint
Chloroform: Anesthetic
Cyanide: Deadly poison
DDT: A banned insecticide
Ethyl Furoate: Causes liver damage in animals
Hydrogen Cyanide: Gas chamber poison
Hexamine: Barbeque lighter
Lead: Poisonous in high doses
Formaldehyde: Used to preserve dead specimens
Methanol: Rocket fuel
Methoprene: Insecticide
Methyl isocyanate: Its accidental release killed 2000 people in Bhopal, India in 1984
Naphthalene: Ingredient in mothballs
Nicotine: insecticide/ addictive drug
Nitrobenzene: Gasoline additive
Nitrous Oxide Phenols: Disinfectant
Polonium: Cancer-causing radioactive element
Stearic Acid: Candle wax
Tar: Substance used to pave roads and driveways.

a special day

2008-02-02T09:36:00.000-08:00

Today out of all of the days.... is possibly a special day; or not. I could rant and rave and curse out my so called phone plan for sending me a bill for $120.But why? Very few people remembered this day and I assume that I could care less.Today is going to be the day that I reflect on all of the accomplishments and achievements that I have made in my peculiar yet interesting lifetime.I don't want to boast but Im glad that I have found a motif in my derlirious and bizzare adolescent years.

Here is to me and to Al Nabad

http://www.anmag.org/issues/16/04/160405.php

http://www.anmag.org/issues/17/04/170408.php

http://www.anmag.org/issues/18/04/180404.php

http://www.anmag.org/issues/19/04/190404.php

http://www.anmag.org/issues/20/04/200405.php

http://www.anmag.org/issues/22/04/220406.php

so it seems...

2008-01-26T12:16:00.000-08:00

"For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities, and are often more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are." -Niccolo Machiavelli

laying in my bed

head spinning full of confusion

dazed by my mental and emotional state

not able to concentrate

I used to know of something called fate

it's never too late

taking everything for granted

I'm still bemused at being used

starting to lose my fuse

unable to choose

looking for a purpose

it was never too good to be true

so delusional

Confined... is this a prison ?

distorted

chained

free will

looking right through everything

taking second glances all around

have I lost myself?

I know my destination

my aspiration

withdraw

nothing left

it's all gone

secrets

what oracle has made me so bizarre?

yearning for

sentiment,tenderness,enchantment,devotion

thoughts lingering in my head

its all I've ever wanted

we collapse

intact once again

patiently anticipating

I might have changed

so it seems ....

trying to get out of bed

open my window once again

contemplations make me cringe

I didn't know

young...youth

deceived

memories of my childhood

what does the future behold?

a sense of belonging

look deep inside

I only wanted to find myself

so it seems....

the truth

path of righteousness

purity

light a candle

say a prayer

seeking refuge

asking forgivness

the cycle

so it seems....

Tribute to ex blogger

2008-01-01T01:47:00.000-08:00

A tribute to an ex blogger named jij.This is one of my favorite writings of his.He is truly missed and we wish that he will soon return to the blogging scene once again.

I love coffee shops. Not the poisonous mushroom kind of coffee shop (that’s Starbucks, by the way), but the small, private-ownership, idiosyncratic coffee shop.

College towns are full of such coffee shops, each with its own atmosphere and its colorful patrons. Here, in Blacksburg, there are four such coffee shops I know of. The nearest to my house is the Easy Chair coffee shop. Every time I feel suffocated from working in my room (which is practically everyday in all honesty), I grab my laptop and my notes, take whatever book I happen to be reading, and go to Easy Chair.

This is basically how I spent last summer. I wake up, I eventually get bored, and so I take a book and go to Easy Chair. The place had some couches and easy chairs (hence the name) lying around. My favorite was a black lazy boy (you know what I mean, the comfy one that comes with something to rest your feet on). I spent hours on that chair. Delightful times. I must have read 20 books on that chair.

Now, two weeks ago, I go to Easy Chair, buy my usual medium black coffee (no sugar, no cream, no milk; they get in the way of the coffee) and go towards the couch area. The lazy boy is gone. All the couches are gone. What the hell happened, I ask the girl behind the counter? Oh, we had to get rid of them, because we needed more space for study tables, she said. What? You need more space? It’s called Easy Chair coffee shop, for god sake. Where are the easy chairs? How could you do this to me? The easy chair is gone, donated to some church.

I’m still aggravated by this incident. Easy Chair is not comfortable any more. I’m like an abandoned orphan. I hate those fucking wooden chairs. They break my back. And the table is too small for my legs. And the lighting system is all off. You either turn on that little light on your table, and it gets to 100 degrees in five minutes, and you start sweating like it’s the desert, or you try to read in utter obscurity, and ruin what remains of your eye-sight in the process. A lose-lose situation.

Maybe I’ll stop going to Easy Chair. Those profit-driven whores. Maybe I’ll start taking the bus to Bollos, or the gay people place, as my homophobic friend puts it. They don’t have couches either, but they never had couches, so I let it slide. The death-of-coffee place (i.e. Starbucks) has a branch just five minutes from where I live, but I refuse to go there. I’m not that desperate. Not yet.

Speaking of coffee shops, I was in Beirut in July, and I decided I wanted to go read a book in a coffee shop, just like I do in Blacksburg. Now, the problem with Beirut coffee shops is that there really aren’t any. There used to be one in Hamra Street, but it closed down a couple of years ago.

There’s the Wimpy, but it’s really a restaurant, not a coffee shop. I wasn’t going to sit there and smell the burgers, no way. I attempted to go to that new happening place, De Prague but it’s just too crowded all day long, even in the morning. There’s a Starbucks, but I there was no way I was going there. There are a few super-traditional, Abou-El- Abed type coffee shops lying around, but they’re not made for reading. In fact, I don’t think books are allowed in those places.

The only remaining possibility was to go to one of those sea-side large coffee shops (Rawda, Shatila, etc). I was afraid that the place would be packed with loud kids playing on their bikes, but I went anyway. It was about 4:00 PM. I chose the seediest, most abandoned-looking coffee shop of the lot. I don’t think it even has a name. It was practically empty. In one corner, there was some kind of middle age poet/writer/intellectual newspapers (the messy long hair gave it away) sitting behind a small hill of. In another corner, a guy and a girl, all smiles, engaging in what appears to be the early stages of courtship (the quiet stages).

In the background, an abandoned restroom. Further back, a guy with a huge moustache sleeping on what looked like a late-nineteenth-century couch. To the right, two waiters (white shirt, black pants) playing cards and cursing each other in the shade. To the left, the Mediterranean. Absolutely amazing stuff, I thought. I wish I brought my camera. I felt like a tourist in my own city.

So I sat down on the most isolated table in the place. I could see the beach from there (The Military Beach, on Manara). Some kids splashing in the pool, an obese fifty year old man not-so-discretely eying a twenty year old girl in a bikini, five teenage boys screaming and gesticulating around a teenage girl, competing for her attention… A few garbage bags floating in the sea, two or three ships further away, and then only blue sky. The monotonous sound of the waves, splashing on the rocks. Life can be so fucking violently beautiful sometimes. I didn’t open the book that afternoon. I had tea, not coffee.

2007-12-18T14:28:00.000-08:00

Wishing all Muslims around the world a happy and blessed Eid Al Adha.

Tent Glimpse

2007-12-13T10:29:00.000-08:00

A tiny glimpse of the tent city in downtown Beirut taken with my small camera.

Did Iceland Teen Call Secret White House Phone?

2007-12-10T15:17:00.000-08:00

When Vífill Atlason, a 16-year-old high school student from Iceland, decided to call the White House, he could not imagine the kind of publicity it would bring.

Introducing himself as Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, the actual president of Iceland, Atlason found what he believed to be President George W. Bush's allegedly secret telephone number and phoned, requesting a private meeting with him.

"I just wanted to talk to him, have a chat, invite him to Iceland and see what he'd say," Vífill told ABC News.

A White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore insisted to ABC News that the young man did not dial the private number but instead dialled 202-456-1414, the main switchboard for the West Wing. But that was not the case. The student gave ABC News the number. It is indeed an extention off the White House switchboard and goes to a security command post office in the building next door to the White House.

Vífill's mother, Harpa Hreinsdottir, a teacher at the local high school, said her son did, in fact, get through to a private phone.

"This was not a switchboard number of any kind," she told ABC News, "it was a secret number at the highest security level."

Vífill claims he was passed on to several people, each of them quizzing him on President Grímsson's date of birth, where he grew up, who his parents were and the date he entered office.

"It was like passing through checkpoints," he said. "But I had Wikipedia and a few other sites open, so it was not so difficult really."

When he finally got through to President Bush's secretary, Vífill alleges he was told to expect a call back from Bush.

"She told me the president was not available at the time, but that she would mark it in his schedule to call me back on Monday evening," he said.

Instead, the police showed up at his home in Akranes, a fishing town about 48 kilometers from Reykjavik, and took him to the local police station, where they questioned the 16-year-old for several hours.

"The police chief said they were under orders from U.S. officials to "find the leak" -- that I had to tell them where I had found the number," he said. "Otherwise, I would be banned from ever entering the United States."

Vífill claims he cannot remember where he got the number.

"I just know I have had it for a few years," he told ABC. "I must have gotten it from a friend when I was about 11 or 12."
Atlason's mother Harpa, who was not home at the time, said she was shocked to find her son had been taken away by the police but could not quite bring herself to be angry with her son.

"He's very resourceful you know," she said. "He has become a bit of a hero in Iceland. Bush is very unpopular here."

Vífill was eventually released into his parent's custody, and no charges have been brought against the high school student.

When ABC verified the number, it was the Secret Service Uniform Division, which handles security for the president.

"If the number were not top secret, why would the police have told me that I will be put on a no-fly list to America?" Vífill asked.

"I don't see how calling the White House is a crime," he added. "But obviously, they took it very seriously."

Calls to the Secret Service press office were not returned.

Refugees Resort to Prostitution

2007-12-08T11:12:00.000-08:00

The U.S. invasion of Iraq has definitely not benefited anyone. It has
caused great hardships and adversities for the many Iraqi refugees that
have escaped from worn torn Iraq. The majority of the refugees fled to the
neighboring country of Syria. Many of the men have been killed and left
widowed wives and young children behind. The number of Iraqi refugees in
Syria is an estimated 1.5 million and about 2 million in other countries
in the Middle East.

Violence, inflation, and the absence of government aid have left women
with very few options. There arent very many job opportunitues for
refugess; and especially women. With children to be fed, clothed, and
schooled women have to resort to prostitution in order to keep their
children alive. As little as $8 dollars a day women are compelled to sell
their bodies and souls just to keep a bit of food on the table in fear of
their children starving.

With the exception of Palestinians, refugees are not legally allowed to
have jobs in Syria. Numerous Iraqi refugees are living off their savings,
which are dwindled by daily expenses. Many are marooned in Syria,and few
western embassies are now authorizing visas, claiming that Iraq has
become a liberated country after the fall of Saddam. With the economic
situation worsening for refugees, officials say, “It's no surprise that
Syria is seeing a rise in child exploitation and prostitution”.

The silence surrounding the predicament of prostitution draws attention to
the international community’s failure to recognize the distressing
conditions of Iraqi refugees and provide them with better opportunities
and advantages.

Some of the women, in search of work outside the home for the first time,
and living in a country with a very high unemployment rate, find that
their only profitable way to make money is to resort to prostitution.

The inexpensive cost of prostitution has made Syria a well known place for
sex tourists from wealthier countries in the Middle East.

There is an estimated 50,000 Iraqi women working as prostitutes in Syria,
but it is not known how many of the prostitutes are children and teenage
girls.

The United States has repeatedly claimed that they have come to Iraq to
liberate and free the Iraqi’s from the tyrant ruler Saddam. But what I
really see in an imperialistic country that has bullied and vandalized
Iraq, caused sectarian violence, robbed the country from its only useful
resource, and have caused almost half of the country’s population to
become refugees.

The women who are 60-65 percent of the Iraqi population are being ignored.
Action needs to be taken to help these neglected women who are suffering
from casualties of war, the loss of their husbands and family, and the
cruel standards of living that they are forced to live as refugees.

The real victims of this chaos are women and children; they are left to
pay the price. I find it quite ironic that women consist of half of the
human race and they are subjected to oppression and degradation. I wonder
if life for women will ever change and become any better.

major quiz

2007-12-01T12:38:00.001-08:00

Which College Major Should You Be?
	Your major should be Psychology. You enjoy understanding people, especially if it helps you get their numbers. You can save the books for grad school, right now it's all about field work.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

World Aids Day, December 1

2007-12-01T12:06:00.000-08:00

I think it makes sense why those two girls were making a peace sign from their car window yesterday.

Today in your spare time, remember all of those lives lost to HIV and AIDS. You can make a difference in the global fight against HIV and AIDS. World AIDS Day isn't just about one day. With infection rates continuing to rise globally there is a great deal still to do, so get involved.

HIV is one of the biggest social, economic and health challenges in the world. It is a global emergency claiming over 8,000 lives every day. In fact 5 people die of AIDS every minute.

Young people (under 25 years old) account for half of all new HIV infections worldwide - around 6,000 become infected with HIV every day.

In 2006, over 4.3 million people acquired HIV, which means there are now over 40 million people living with HIV and AIDS. Despite best efforts from governments, non-profit organizations and healthcare practitioners around the world, HIV and AIDS is still having huge global impact.

More than 25 million people have died of AIDS since 1981.

2007-11-30T14:00:00.000-08:00

Math has always been one of my many weaknesses.I seem to have this blackout whenever I think of math. But I had one teacher that made me look at math from a different perspective;it didn't last that long though.Hopefully with my new tutor I will be able to succeed and do much better.The worst thing would for my GPA to drastically drop just for one subject which would be math.

Someone once told me this joke about math, I don't remember it quite well.It was that the math department in some universities are next to the psychology department; i.e. psychologists use mathematicians as lab rats....?

Today when I was in the car, the most peculiar thing happened to me.I don't know if it was a coincidence but two young girls made a peace sign to me from their car window. It was quite random, but what really puzzled me was that it happened twice. Green Peace or Save the Whales... pondering

The man with the green tie at the co- op smiled and I was wearing a purple coat.Earl Grey tea with organic chips.

before 1979

2007-11-15T09:19:00.000-08:00

2007-11-09T23:03:00.000-08:00

A tale of online love inspired usually cynical New Yorkers this week to help a young man find the girl of his dreams after he spotted her on a crowded subway train.

For Web designer Patrick Moberg, 21, from Brooklyn, it was love at first sight when he locked eyes with a rosy-cheeked woman while riding in Manhattan on Sunday night. She was writing in her journal.

The train was so full that he lost her in the crowd when they both got off, so he set up a Web site dedicated to finding the mystery woman -- www.nygirlofmydreams.com.

He drew a picture of the girl, who was wearing blue shorts, blue tights, and a red flower in her hair, and posted his cell phone number, e-mail address and an appeal for help finding her.

It worked.

Within hours Moberg's inbox was overflowing with e-mails and his phone ringing non-stop. He told the New York Post that he even received e-mails offering him love. "Some people said I'm not the girl but you're so adorable, pick me instead."

Tuesday night a friend of the woman contacted him and sent him a picture so he could confirm her identity. "Found Her! Seriously!" a notice on his Web site said.

"We've been put in touch with one another and we'll see what happens."

The mysterious subway brunette was named Thursday as Camille Hayton, an intern at magazine BlackBook from Melbourne, Australia, who also lives in Brooklyn.

"This is crazy. I can't believe it's happening," Hayton, 22, told the New York Post.

But Moberg said he is now pulling the shutters on his love life, scribbling out the cell phone number on his Web site and leaving a message on his phone saying he will do no more interviews.

"In our best interest, there will be no more updates to this website," he wrote.

"Unlike all the romantic comedies and bad pop songs, you'll have to make up your own ending for this."

Some New Yorkers may already, wondering if Moberg had made it sound too easy to find a needle in a haystack in this city of eight million people.

Raya Hilal "Leih Nasseeni"

2007-11-03T14:38:00.000-07:00

in to to ...

2007-10-19T18:54:00.000-07:00

The train ride was considerably relaxing.I tried to go to sleep but I was too afraid that I might fall asleep and miss my stop.So I remained fully alert.I looked out the window and watched my surroundings while wondering about things, contemplating life, and envisioning paradoxical memories.I got off the train and went on the bus.But then I took the wrong bus stop.They didn't announce the stops on the bus.So I just went with my intuition and got off the first stop.I should have double checked before I got off.After about two minutes I noticed that I had taken the wrong stop.I wasn't nervous at all.I actually started laughing at myself.There wasn't anywhere to sit because the bench was full.So I just sat in the bush.I got a few funny looks,but I didn't really mind.It was actually pretty comfortable.Some sort of mossy grass.I was trying to remain discreet.

I finally got a hold of my sister and she was only a few minutes away from where I was

ring ring ring..

Hey where are you?
I'm right here.
Right where?
I'm in the bush!
lol I'm right across the street.
My car lights are flashing.Do you see me?
oh yess.I'll walk over there.

The next day I went to get the morning coffee.I felt so funny.The cafe was right across the street but I had to ask for directions.Terrible navigation skills.

For lunch I had sushi.New York rolls, spider rolls,mi so soup, and green tea.

After a long day of rigorous walking I had blisters on my feet and the back of heal was bleeding.I should have gotten more suitable shoes for walking.

Pete's Coffee was quite interesting.I had a green tea smoothie which was in to to delightful.

I learned a few new things about accounting, stocks, and shareholders.Its always nice to hang out in the city...

video israel dosen't want you to see

2007-10-14T19:58:00.000-07:00

mahabat paggle

2007-10-08T02:01:00.000-07:00

It was the year of 1987, on a warm summer’s day in Bombay, India. Masumatra was making chai (tea) and nan (bread) for an afternoon snack. After she finished cooking, she tended to the laundry and went to the balcony to dry the laundry. As she was drying her clothes on the clothes line, she noticed someone sitting on a bamboo mat on the balcony across from hers.

The balcony was not too far from her sight. And Masumatra had an almost clear view of the handsome young man, who appeared to have noticed her as well. It seemed as if he was drinking a mango lassie (smoothie). She could tell by the faint orange color seen through the clear glass cup. It was one of her favorite drinks. The young man obviously saw Masumatra eyeing the glass and asked if she would like some. They both smiled, and by the brightness of the young mans smile, Masumatra’s cheeks warmed and turned brilliantly red. She was so bashful that she left the laundry and ran back in to the house.

Her mother saw her change of face as she came back in to the kitchen. Masumatra’s mother asked her if she had any secrets but Masumatra said that she hadn’t any. Her mother felt that there was something but remained quiet nevertheless. Masumatra waited till after dark to dry the remaining of her clothes. As night prevailed, she lied in her bed envisioning the handsome mans face. She slept soundly in her bed and dreamt as she usually does.

As she arose from her sleep, the sun crept through the window and the loud screech of the rooster forced her to inevitably awake. She instantly remembered the laundry and rushed to the balcony. She ran so fast that she almost tripped as she was going up the stairs. It was still quite early in the morning and the sun hadn’t fully risen yet. She removed all the clothes from the clothes line and put them in the basket.

After all the clothes were taken off from the clothes line, she could see the young man prostrating and reciting a verse from the Quran. Rushil was Muslim and she was Hindu. Even though it was her second time seeing him she had fallen for him the first time she laid eyes on him. Masumatra started to fold the laundry at the edge of the balcony, and as she raised her head she saw the handsome man staring her in mesmerization. She neatly and precisely folded the laundry and the young man watched her every move. She put the laundry aside and looked back into the young mans eyes. They locked eyes for the longest time which felt everlastingly. They didn’t talk but their eyes spoke for them. There is a hidden language of the eyes which only the free spirited can understand.

They remained like so for days and days at a time. On the days where they were not able to see each other, Rushil would write Masumatra a letter and toss it on her balcony. Masumatra’s mother kept quiet for a long time but couldn’t help noticing that she was not doing a very good job with the housework.

One day Masumatra’s mother called her but she did not reply. So her mother decided to see what she was up to. She looked all throughout the house, the corridor, the bedrooms, and the kitchen but she was no where to be found. There was only one place that that she had not searched for Masumatra: the balcony.She saw Masumatra and the young man speaking to each other by the edge of the balcony.Masumatra’s mother was so furious that she grabbed Masumatra by her sash and dragged her into the house. What do you think you were doing? Are you crazy Masumatra? I never want to see you on that balcony again!

The tale of the two admirers had become so notorious that even the goddesses had heard about their account.Maya the goddess of illusion was especially spellbound by their story and decided to help the two.Maya sprinkled powder from the clouds into their eyes during their sleep. The powder was called Samadhi powder.Samadhi is a state of complete control over the functions and distractions of consciousness.This special powder is supposed to bring and end to illusionary senses and also help the realization of truth.

The next morning they woke up at the same exact time. They both felt a sense of relaxation and peacefulness. Sometimes in life we want something so bad but we cannot attain it. You can never go against your fate. What’s written is your true destiny. Rushil and Masumatra remained in love until the last moments of perpetuity, but they couldn’t go against their parent’s wishes. They were both obedient and did not rebel. And because of their noble actions, Brahma gifted the two with a special endowment. Brahma awarded them with the gift of aum which is the gift of tranquility.

The pain of love is the pain of being alive. It is a perpetual wound.

middle eastern inspiration in fashion

2007-10-03T11:40:00.000-07:00

Makeup Tips

2007-09-29T11:34:00.000-07:00

The less oxygen your makeup is exposed to, the longer it will last, so always screw those caps on tightly. And keep your cosmetics in cool, dark places - heat and light can cause makeup products' preservatives to break down.

If you use makeup with retinol, the retinol will "expire" and stop being effective in about a month. The makeup itself, though, should still be perfectly usable but you will not be getting the benefits of retinol.

Mascara is the item in your makeup arsenal with the shortest lifespan and the highest susceptibility to bacterial contamination. Experts agree that you should replace it every three months. (And remember basic precautions: Never share mascara, and toss any open tubes if you've had an eye infection.)

As a general rule, creamy products need to be tossed sooner than powders. Your cream blush, foundation, and concealer should last about a year. (Oil-based foundation, however, lasts longer than water-based - up to 18 months.)

Powdered products - facial powder, eye shadow, and powder blush, for example - are among the longest-lasting items in your medicine cabinet, and should last for two to three years.

When sharpened regularly, liners - eye and lip are good for up to three years. Thank goodness for self-renewing beauty products.

Lipstick is another one of the makeup world's great values, and should stay with you (barring any changes in fashion, of course) for a good three years.

These guidelines refer to the most common makeup brands. "Natural" products, however, have fewer preservatives and typically need to be replaced sooner. Another tip I've heard several times is that storing foundation and lipstick in the fridge can extend their shelf lives.

Of course, all of these guidelines are trumped by common sense: If you notice any unusual odors coming from your makeup products, toss them immediately. Changes in color or texture (like clumping or separating) are also a sign that you're due for a trip to the makeup counter.

Finally, don't neglect the tools you're applying all these products with - makeup brushes and sponges can harbor bacteria that lead to acne. Some unconfirmed studies have also suggested bacteria may contribute to rosacea.

Wash your makeup brushes and sponges in mild detergent every week (and replace sponges regularly). Always lay brushes flat to dry - stand them upright, and water can seep into the metal bands that hold bristles together, causing rusting and damage to their handles.

2007-09-27T16:37:00.000-07:00

“His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.”

“The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.”

survey for ladies ... sorry guys

2007-09-20T17:27:00.000-07:00

Click Here to take survey

Ramadan Kareem ;)

2007-09-13T11:30:00.001-07:00

soleil d'aout

2007-09-12T19:46:00.000-07:00

2007-09-11T17:13:00.000-07:00

Within a blink of an eye summer has ended and September is here.Reminiscing on the days that I spent. I cant bear to think of them because it hurts to much. Only I wish for a few more moments.

As the days go by time flies more quickly. The one thing that I know is that I have to reach my goals that I have set for myself and overcome the obstacles of being a young lady.The road to success might be difficult but I know it will pay off in the end.

I felt the wind in my hair. And the breeze wisp through my fingers.I smelled the aroma of pine cones.The sand in between my toes.The icy cold water on my lips.I felt the hard concrete against my feet.The smell of diesel through my nose.Gulping down a can of soda watching the cars pass by.

Where do I go? Where do I belong?

my view from shibakit il seeyara

2007-09-09T18:38:00.000-07:00

Arrival

2007-09-09T00:25:00.000-07:00

I have finally arrived from my month long vacation.I promised to keep everyone updated but to my dismay I had a few minor complications at some of the local Internet cafes.The ongoing outage of electricity was one major factor.Well over all I enjoyed my stay.To tell you the truth I just needed to get out of the house.Change can sometimes save lives.I didn't get a chance too take very many pictures because I kept running out of batteries.

p.s. I didnt adjust the settings on the camera so disregard the dates.

Vacation Update n.1

2007-08-12T04:58:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to let you all know that Im doing ok.Im still trying to recover from jet lag, but other than that all is well.I haven't seen much, but this coming week we have a few things planned.Its nice to break the routine and have a vacation once in a while.I'll keep you updated about whats going on in the next few weeks.

take care

Liberation or Confinement ?

2007-08-04T13:51:00.000-07:00

mini political analysis

2007-07-28T01:16:00.000-07:00

Arnold Schwarzenegger told Democrats and other pessimists not to be "economic girlie-men".

I assume this statement was intended for Al Gore.The Global Warming movie and Live Earth.I'm sorry Mr.Gore

Personally, I think Mr.Gore is doing an astounding job.And I have great admiration for his concern about the economy.Regardless, of whether his movie was appealing or not.It was quite beneficial.

a new day

2007-07-27T21:43:00.000-07:00

A new day has prevailed.Somewhat of a new beginning.After three years of visits, today is the final day.The last goodbye.The last glance.A fresh new start and the future ahead of me.The essence of adolescence: learning new things and just trying to get by, day by day.You think you know everything, but you have only yet begun to learn.The past all behind her and the future ahead of you.Even though they were only three years, every minute counted.

Finally, my sixth month long boycott has ended today.A struggle that I do not regret.I didn't get much out of it, but the one thing I learned was perseverance.I decided that the boycott didn't really affect my well being, and that I had better fish to fry.I'm not a big fan of fried fish but I always seem to use that metaphor.

Sushi a new culinary discovery that has been oh so delightful.Spider rolls, miso soup and sea weed.

Sometimes we take others for granted and we don't know how much they mean to us until we loose them.Savor every moment together.Because you never know what will come tomorow.

As I look at the full moon and I admire its brightness and radiance, I see a face.The moon has its own personality and its face seems to be.... I just cant find the word to describe it.Trying to catch the moon and put it in my pocket,wanting to save its light.

july 12

2007-07-12T00:59:00.000-07:00

The anniversary of one of my worst nightmares.

A cup of coffee is remembered for forty years…

2007-06-30T05:32:00.001-07:00

Coffee isn’t just a beverage; it’s an infusion of flavor that is indescribable. Some people might think Java City is just an ordinary café. But its not, it’s extraordinary. Java City isn’t just your average coffee shop. It was a place full of reminiscences and memories. It’s a very big disappointment that it has closed down. There really isn’t any other coffee shop that can suffice.

Starbucks is on every corner and every turn, its been practically dominating the whole world. There isn’t an airport or shopping mall that doesn’t have a Starbucks nearby. Sometimes there are even three Starbucks within a one mile distance. A little bit too over-rated, don’t you think? Many people take coffee shops for granted and do not know how special they are until they close down or go out of business. Sorry to say but I had to experience this type of loss. Sometimes a really good cup of coffee is just impossible to find.

Java City was the one place where you could go and just talk about your worries and try to find possibilities for them. It was a place full of hope and familiarity. Every time you went, it was almost inevitable that you would make a new friend. The most striking thing about Java City was its immense diversity. You could always find people from so many different cultures and nationalities. And proof of that, was if you listened really carefully you could hear so many different languages and sometimes try to decipher what they were saying. People would play chess, meet with friends and family, do homework, and just relax and sit back while looking at the passer byes.

You wouldn’t know what the coffee shop was like until you have actually been there. As you open the door to the coffee shop, you instantly smell the strong scent of coffee beans and freshly baked sweets. Looking around for a chaise lounge, you find a vacant seat while you are waiting for your order to finish. The atmosphere is calm, until night becomes near, and all of the night owls approach and the café is filled with people. As you look outside the window you spot someone familiar and wave. You decide to sit outside and greet that person. As you take a closer glance, you notice that you have never seen her before. You ask if you can take a seat, and she kindly says yes. Surprisingly, you both seem to have a lot in common and talk for hours. Would you like a piece of my almond croissant? You both enjoy it and keep conversing about this and that. Suddenly, you look at your watch and notice that its half past midnight. But still decide to stay just a little longer. Drifting off in a long utter of nostalgia you tell stories about your longing for a finjan qahwa ( a small cup of Arabic coffee). And how your mother used to serve you coffee with crushed cardamom, as you arose from your midsummer nap. Fresh kaak with sesame seeds was always a must with your coffee. Slowly fading away and about to close your eyes, you awake from your vision and notice that its closing time. You gather up your things and say your goodbyes, wishing everyone a pleasant night. Steadily making your way back home you think about tomorrow and your next cup of coffee.

A cup of coffee is remembered for forty years…

[Turkish Proverb]

Dear Traveler

2007-06-20T12:49:00.000-07:00

Oh you who has traveled

You left and did not tell me

I thought you were right beside me

As I closed my eyes you were gone to a far away land

I wish I was able to take your hand

You left everlastingly and never returned

My misery will not leave until you return

I spent so many sleepless nights waiting for you

by the light of the moon

Oh you who loves the waves and loves to travel

please come back to me again

I understand you cannot go against your fate

but my heart yearns for you my dear traveler

I hope to see what becomes of you after your many journeys

Where have you gone where have you traveled?

You left and did not tell me…

I traveled to the land of seven seas

A land where the waves caress your cheek

A land where the sun is ever shining

A land where the blazing deserts whisper in your ear

A land of beauty that fools the eye

A land of youth and prosperity

I traveled many countries but have never saw countries like these

The lands of North Africa and the Middle East

Oh you unfortunate man he who has not seen these

May you pray to God that you see them before it is your time

I told you my secrets now you tell me yours

I loved the land that you loved now you love mine

fade into you

2007-06-02T19:17:00.001-07:00

Grieving

Inconsolable

Unbelievable

Denial

Memories

Content

Fading...

May His Soul Rest In Peace

2007-05-31T12:58:00.000-07:00

Allah yirhamu.3atak 3omro il youm.I still can't believe it.Is this really happening?He was 16.We laughed and argued together.Fought and got along with each other.We always talked about the most random things and we would make fun of each others taste in music.Walked to Save Mart and bought otter pops.Told jokes about old Hubert.Practically terrorized Roberts car.We didn't have much in common but we were close in age and just liked to have fun and tell jokes.Jealousy sometimes got the best of us and we both had our reasons.But no matter what, we would always have a good time just being ourselves.I didn't mean to embarrass you at your graduation.Thank you for all of the little gifts you got me.I'm going to miss your Olivia noises and your weird meat and jelly sandwiches.I think we were both unique and had very odd personalities, but never intimidated to be different from others.I had alot of fun at that fishing derby and I'm semi-glad to have been introduced to Mardale by you.And Abraham Lincoln as well.Scrabble will never be the same again without you.We will try our best to take good care of Juan for you.

We all had good times together and we miss you very much.

Iza za3latak bi shi anjad Im sorry.

Rachida

2007-05-31T12:03:00.001-07:00

"Rachida" is a pretty, young school teacher.The title character, as the centerpiece of this story which spends most of its time looking at the problems which beset Algeria in the 1990s when the country was struggling with civil war. This testament by its female Algerian director digs into life as a woman in the Sunni Muslim patriarchal culture and the day to day living with anxiety and fear as bands of guerrilla thugs roam the streets.A dramatic movie about terrorism,romance, betrayal of traditions,and living in a country where the uncertain may happen at any time.It is a film definitely worth watching.

harb

2007-05-28T11:28:00.000-07:00

new invention

2007-05-27T23:12:00.000-07:00

new invention... Check out this hooka.

I wonder if this could be a possible patent.

quote by Mone

2007-05-26T09:42:00.000-07:00

Once you reach your inner it is always unique...anyone has the capacity to reach that, it is not only for chosen people. And once u connect, it will always show as a different color and different taste..No one is the same and each one has a unique message...

Stop Sectarianism Before It Stops Us

2007-05-25T09:35:00.000-07:00

peace

2007-05-24T11:33:00.001-07:00

"There are no military solutions.There are no political solutions.There are no cultural solutions. There never have been. There never will be. There are only personal choices. Today, I choose not to kill; I choose not to hate; I choose not to steal. Today, I choose life over death; I choose love over anger; I choose charity over greed. That is our true struggle - the struggle within - the struggle to subjugate our own Evil Impulse."

As a wise man once said "give peace a chance" ....

quote

2007-05-24T11:29:00.001-07:00

A fool with a sense of his foolishness
is at least to that extent wise.
But a fool who thinks himself wise
really deserves to be called a fool.

quote

2007-05-24T11:28:00.000-07:00

Do not dwell in the past,
do not dream of the future,
concentrate the mind
on the present moment.

Stop the Clash of Civilizations

2007-05-24T10:46:00.000-07:00

look at your right hand

2007-05-20T23:36:00.000-07:00

Amazing facts from Quran

2007-05-20T23:19:00.000-07:00

Check this out, very interesting findings of Dr. Tariq Al Swaidan might
grasp your attention:

Dr.Tarig Al Swaidan discovered some verses in the Holy Qur'an
that mention one thing is equal to another,i.e. men are equal to women.

Although this makes sense grammatically, the astonishing fact is that the
number of times the word man appears in the Qur'an is 24 and number of times the word woman appears is also 24,therefore not only is this phrase correct in the grammatical sense but also true mathematically, i.e. 24 = 24.

Upon further analysis of various verses, he discovered that this is
consistent throughout the whole Qur'an, where it says one thing is like
another. See below for astonishing result of the words mentioned number of
times in Arabic Qur'an:

Dunia (one name for life) 115. Aakhirat (one name for the life after this
world) 115
Malaika (Angels) 88 . Shayteen (Satan) 88
Life 145 .... Death 145
Benefit 50 . Corrupt 50
People 50 .. Messengers 50
Eblees (king of devils) 11 . Seek refuge from Eblees 11
Museebah (calamity) 75 . Thanks 75
Spending (Sadaqah) 73 . Satisfaction 73
People who are mislead 17 . Dead people 17
Muslimeen 41 . Jihad 41
Gold 8 . Easy life 8
Magic 60 . Fitnah (dissuasion, misleading) 60
Zakat (Taxes Muslims pay to the poor) 32 . Barakah (Increasing or blessings
of wealth) 32
Mind 49 . Noor 49
Tongue 25 . Sermon 25
Desite 8 . Fear 8
Speaking publicly 18 . Publicising 18
Hardship 114 .... Patience 114
Muhammed 4 . Sharee'ah (Muhammed's teachings) 4
Man 24. Woman 24

And amazingly enough have a look how many times the following words appear:

Salah 5, Month 12, Day 365,
Sea 32, Land 13

Sea + land = 32+13= 45

Sea = 32/45*100=71.11111111%
Land = 13/45*100 = 28.88888889%
Sea + land =100.00%

Modern science has only recently proven that the water covers 71.111% of the earth while the land covers 28.889%.

Red Rose

2007-05-20T22:59:00.001-07:00

From Quran Surat Ar-Rahman Ayah 37 and the Hubble Telescope via NASA See the picture above, the RED ROSE NEBULA, see what Quran said at Surah 55 (Ar-Rahman), Ayah 37! We see it now in the years 1999/2000! and Quran mentioned it almost 1400 years ago. The picture is taken by the NASA Hubble Space Telescope of the "Cat's Eye Nebula." It is an exploding star 3,000 lightyears away. They should have called it the "Oily Red Rose Nebula." As the Quran states in Ar-Rahman, "When the sky is torn apart, so it was (like) a red rose, like ointment." Quran [Surah55:Ayah37]

Middle Eastern Mickey Mouse

2007-05-20T17:14:00.000-07:00

Petrolyphs

2007-05-12T12:37:00.000-07:00

Man and mountain and river are one.
Through pride in the land and pride in the earth
The people now celebrate a rebirth.
To give is to love, to love is to give;
To sing is to breathe, to dance is to live.
The feet caress the earth below,
Drawing the strength, releasing the flow.
The hands reach up to the sky above,
Catching the beauty, expressing the love.
Freshness and innocence, tenderness, grace -
In this Garden of Eden my soul's found its place.
Earth, fire, water and air:
The fire's in my heart, the water's a tear

sho hayda? lol

2007-05-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

Rely Upon Allah

2007-05-09T15:15:00.001-07:00

If you rely upon Allah, trusting him completely, He certainly would provide for you as He provides for the birds. The birds set out hungry in the morning, yet return satisfied at dusk.

-The Prophet Muhammad (SAW), as reported by Umar bin al-Khattab

النبض

2007-05-09T12:07:00.001-07:00

http://alnabad.com/issues/16/04/160405.php

A Miracle Right in the Palm of Your Hand

2007-05-01T23:01:00.000-07:00

the scent of resistance

2007-04-27T13:36:00.000-07:00

A new perfume carrying the "scent of resistance" and celebrating Hizbullah's "divine victory" has been released on the market in Lebanon, according to a report which appeared in the Lebanese Daily Star on Monday.

"If you've ever wondered what resistance smells like, then try a dab of 'Resistance Perfume,' which comes 'exclusively' with a political message and a picture of Hizbullah's secretary general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah," the Daily Star article said.

"Apparently, the scent of resistance is a strong and musky one that comes with a single pledge -- 'a truthful' one," the report added.

A slogan on the perfume box, quoting Nasrallah during a wartime speech made over the summer reads: "You are the truthful promise... and I have great faith in you and I promise you divine victory."

The Daily Star, which placed quotation marks around every mention of Israel in its report, added that the package comes with "a digitally manipulated picture of a sinking ship, meant to represent the 'Israeli' warship damaged by a Hizbullah missile during the conflict, along with reprints of Nasrallah's speeches and messages from the 'Lebanese prisoners in 'Israeli' prisons.'"

'Hizbullah not a commercial venture'
Mohammad Dekmak, CEO of the Bint Huda chain of stores in the south Beirut area, told the Daily Star: "We thought it was a catchy idea, as now the perfume is more than something that smells nice, it is a political statement."

The report said the perfume's designer initially came by the Beirut store "carrying 40 samples of the perfume in a plastic bag -- and sold them all within minutes."

Hizbullah Spokesman Ghassan Darwish was quoted by the Star as saying: "We don't like to encourage people to turn Hizbullah into a commercial venture, but since the perfume is called 'Resistance' and not 'Hizbullah,' we have no right to really prevent it from being sold as resistance is a broad ideology not limited to one party."

Respnding to the perfume, a pro-Hizbullah demonstrator in Beirut told the Lebanese newspaper that he was "content with showering and using plain soap."

mas amor

2007-04-26T21:48:00.001-07:00

La MC-MALCRIADO mas amor

A Lebanese Documentary

2007-04-25T15:43:00.000-07:00

point of view

2007-04-25T15:32:00.000-07:00

Its almost unattainable

Its right next to me

Its far from my grasp

I can see it

Its so vague

yet even with with all of these imprecise things aound me

surprisingly I understand what its trying to tell me

post card from lebanon

2007-04-25T15:15:00.000-07:00

(click on post card to enlarge)

Fadi Khatib makes an amazing slam dunk

2007-04-25T14:11:00.000-07:00

quote

2007-04-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

"For every disease there is a remedy, and the remedy for sin is repentance."

...

2007-04-18T17:51:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine e-mailed me these pictures.They are really disturbing... And I dont have any comments.

can you read this?

2007-04-16T12:05:00.000-07:00

Can you raed tihs? Olny smoe plepoe can. I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it.

lets party

2007-04-14T23:59:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun tonight.It was amazing.I hadn't had that much fun in almost a year!

It was an all girls party.No guys allowed.And I was happy.Who needs guys anyways?A lot of girls were dressed very fancy.I decided to just go casual.I was comfortable and thats all that mattered.They didn't have much food served but I was too busy dancing and talking to my friends to eat.I only needed water.I met a really nice girl named Yasmine.She was very sweet and we got along very well.I was very reluctant to go to the party but my best friend persuaded me so I decided to go.I needed to enjoy myself because I haven't done that in a long time.I'm glad that I went.

Good Night...

Now that I have had my fun its time to get back to work! I need to finish my biology tomorrow.

stream of thoughts

2007-04-14T02:07:00.000-07:00

The sole purpose for our existence is to serve God.We were created to obey God and abide by prescribed laws and regulations.Maybe all of the chaos and mayhem that is happening in the world today is because of lack of spirituality and loss of intrest in religion.When a person has a certain way of a life or a religion they have a sense of direction.But without a sense of direction; where will you go? What will become of you?

"Life is a journey not a destination". This statement is questionable.Going through life without a destination means that life is pointless.I believe that life is a destination and it is not a journey.I assume that everyone would like to be granted the eternal bliss of paradise.We are to busy loving life to actually care about the true purpose of life.There is no doubt that life is nice, but moderation is the key to all doors.

When materialism has become the norm I find it quite hard to feel any sense of spirituality without having to experience complete isolation.We have came so far but even with all of the current technology, its as if we have went back to the beginning of civilizations i.e. barbarians.We are unable to communicate and solve our problems like civilized human beings.All we are capable of doing is grunting and starting meaningless wars.

Science and technology are not a sin but misapplication and abuse of it is.It seems as if we live in a Godless world that has dubbed the 21st century.Man has took destiny in his domain by trying to gain unlimited power over nations and practice tyranny over innocent people.What happen to democracy? Where has it gone.The definition of democracy is : a government controlled by its citizens, either directly or through representatives.So in a democracy the main intrest are the citizens.

Our technological advancement doubles every ten years and its moving faster than we have time to socially evolve.Its possible that too much technology and lack of religious spirituality are the reasons of our problems today.Even with all of our knowledge and technological advancement we have not even scratched the surface of the phenomenal beauty behind life.

Bloggers Uncover Lebanon War Fraud

2007-04-05T09:24:00.001-07:00

Lebanon Fraud: Lines are not there; colors are wrong as well

In the wake of the United Nation's Security Council resolution to end the war in Lebanon, some fear the root cause of the war may be lost. The war was the result of geographical fraud, according to a report produced by a virtual convocation of internet bloggers. The report documents compelling evidence from hundreds of digitally enhanced eye-witnesses that every map the describing the Middle East conflict, every single one in print, broadcast or on the internet, is uncontestably inaccurate.

The discovery of the fraud began innocently enough as an Israeli teenager crept up to the border with Lebanon late last Thursday night to meet the Lebanese girl he had hooked up with through MySpace. He used a MacBook with a Geosensory USB-interface version Gobal Postitioning System receiver module. She had a Garmin eTrex, a stand-alone handheld unit that literally fit in the palm of her hand, and cost only 165,851 Lebanese pounds.

They knew that it could be fatal if either of them crossed the border -- but in the dim and shimmering moonlight they met exactly at the rendezvous coordinates -- and there they were together, alone -- and there was no border, none at all. They kissed in a way that, according to their precisely cailibrated GPS-enabled devices, neither of their lips crossed the suppposed border, then ran home to get on the internet tell the world about what they had discovered. Love would have to wait.

Hundreds of bloggers, posters and blog readers from Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Palestinian territories, all equipped with GPS-enabled smartphones, handhelds and other information appliances walked to the points on their maps indicating the international border. Regardless of whether their devices were voice-centric or data-centric, and whether they ran Symbian, Palm OS, Windows Mobile or Linux, the results were the exactly the same: there was no border, none at all. Walls, ditches and fences appeared at some points, the eye-witnesses report, but never the lines, solid or dashed, that showed on every map or mapping device.

Academic geographers, when presented with the information provided at this conference, were astounded. "It's irrefutable; completely, entirely, undeniably irrefutable," said Brent R. Skeeter, Chair and Professor of the Salisbury State University's Department of Geography and Geosciences. "Nothing I've taught for 40 years has been anything but a fraud, a hoax, a sham, a deck of duplicious dupery. It's too late for me to do anything, but maybe the next generation of geographers will take their students on field trips and not just rely on pull-down maps."

Because of Photoshop, which was used to create many of these maps, no photo can be trusted any longer, experts in photo manipulation agree. So, the bloggers will lead an expedition to the Middle East with top journalists from around the world to show them the actual "border" between Israel and Lebanon.

"After they've been there they will understand the deception that has been perpetrated not just on the government of Israel, government of Lebanon and the leadership of Hezbollah but on the whole world," said Catholicgauze, the meisterblogger of Geographic Travels with Catholicgauze!

Local journalists and photographers not esteemed enough to be included in the Middle East tour can simulate its impact by going to their own county's county-line with any neighboring county. "What you will see, invariably, is a change in pavement, but no actual line. And where the line extends into the grass on each side of the road, nothing. There's no line, dotted or otherwise," said David Rayner, co-founder of the Give Geography its Place Campaign.

(this sory is entirely fictious by the way :)

raso 3ajibne

2007-04-03T16:47:00.000-07:00

lebanese people ....

2007-04-03T09:28:00.001-07:00

Culture Clash Anyone?

2007-03-29T11:51:00.000-07:00

I experience culture clashes quite often.Whether its in the middle east or anywhere else.I think many people experience the feeling of confusion and awkwardness when they are caught in between two different cultures.That are practically the complete opposite of each other.I have a particular interest in one culture more than the other.

But sometimes I have trouble understanding each and every single custom.Its just going to take a little time and a lot of patience.
But I think I pretty much have most of the basics down.So its not too bad.And I also understand the language very well.So I do have that advantage to be thank full for.

Don’t stay out too late.

( I don't go out very much so I don't have to worry about that )

Go in your room. The plumber is here to fix the water.

( umm ok.... )

Don’t walk around the house in white socks

( I wear slippers or sha7ata )

Put your underwear on the inside line and the clothes on the outside.That way men on the street can’t see your underclothes.

( I don't get the point. Everybody wears underclothes )

You want to shower today? Again? You just showered yesterday!

( I'm sorry but I have to shower daily! )

Turn the hot water heater off after you shower.

( Real plumbing that you don't know about )

Don’t go in the elevator if there is a man in it. Take the stairs.

( I have always been afraid that the power would go out and I would get stuck in the elevator.)

Put olive oil on your yogurt. It makes it better.

( Olive oil tastes good on practically everything )

Drink tea with your breakfast. It makes the food taste less dry

( I'll drink tea with anything )

Don't stand on the balcony.They will think you are a bad girl.

( no comment )

Don't wear a short sleeved shirt.Wear a long one

( I bring my jeans jacket everywhere I go just in case )

Fold the napkin before you blow your nose

( lol whats the difference )

Don't go to bed with you hair tied.

( I haven't been tying my hair for a while )

Don't cut your nails at night.

( huh? )

Don't look outside the car window.

( Its not my fault your windows are not tinted )

Don't sit with your male cousins so much.

( They are my cousins! )

No,thats not how you fold the grape leaves.

( Will you please show me how then )

Perhaps some of this advice is useful

Sho ya Nancy?

2007-03-26T12:35:00.000-07:00

Lebanese artist, Rabih Mroue, will premier his new performance, "How Nancy Wished that Everything was an April Fool’s Joke", at the Tokyo International Arts Festival from March 23 -27, 2007. The new multimedia production, conceived from Beirut after the July War of 2006, is a cross between "stories" and "histories" of individuals and society, reflecting the ever-changing situation in Lebanon.

The performance is written by Rabih Mroue and Fadi Toufic, directed by Rabih Mroue and performed by Lina Saneh, Hatem Imam, Ziad Antar and Rabih Mroue. Animation is by Ghassan Halawani. Set design and graphic work is by Samar Maakaron. This performance was co-produced by Tokyo International Arts Festival, Festival d’Automne Paris and Ashkal Alwan.

شكر خاص

2007-03-26T11:20:00.000-07:00

shukr khas la kil il jaysh il libnani.Allah ya7meekoun ou Allah ya7meh libnan.

بدأت هنا

2007-03-26T09:34:00.000-07:00

It all started with Johnny Tremain.It was probably the worst book I was ever assigned in all of my school years. Dali Lama: Not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck." (thanks Dareen)

It was a very monotonous book and it was extremely boring.But there was something in that book that caught my attention.The Freemasons.Who were these people, what did they do? Little did I know I was to embark on a journey and a quest for knowledge.I call it my "Intellectual Movement".Not only did I research and study for long hours but I slowly began to find my true identity along the way.My journey has yet begun and my only true destination is Paradise.Not only did I research about the Freemasons but I researched a plethora of topics.I have learned so many things and have matured a great deal on this journey.I have found the purpose of life and I see things from many different lights.

So I guess Johnny Tremain wasn't so bad after all.....

Bit dalak bi elbi ya Libnan mah mar sar.Wojoudak sa3adni bil ra7li.Biz3al minak shway ba3dan borda 3atoul.La ano mafi mitlak.

john lenon

2007-03-25T17:11:00.000-07:00

Musicians have always exploited Music as a means of propagating political ideas. Political ideologies are ingeniously diffused without the listener having to confirm affiliation. John Lennon was recognised as much as a 'thinker' as he was a musician. He was hailed by many, and still is, as a proponent of Democracy. Below is illustrated how John Lennon incorporated Marxist and communist ideologies into his music, in the famous single, Imagine.

Imagine that there was no heaven, it's easy if you try 1

No hell below us, above us only sky 2

Imagine all the people living for Today 3

Imagine there are no countries 4

It isn't hard to, nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too 5

Imagine all the people living in peace, Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can, no need for greed or hunger, a brotherhood of Man

Imagine all the people sharing all the world. 6

You may say that I am a dreamer, but I'm not the only one

I hope some day you'll join us when the world be as one. 7

1. The attack on Religion. Marxism propagates Religion as an obstacle toward economic prosperity. Russia was once the seat of the Muslims. Bukhara and Samarkand were the centers of Muslim learning and civilisation. Imam Bukhari was from Bukhara. Communism openly and systematically almost destroyed Islam. It is no coincidence that architectural designs within the former Soviet Union look like mosques. Thousands of mosques were destroyed. The Ulema (scholars) were persecuted, books were burnt. It is only after two decades of struggle and Jihad that the Soviet Union was tamed.

2. The belief that there is no Jannah (Heaven) or Jahannum (Hell), that there is no Aakirah (Hereafter).

3. The attack on 'self interest', the guiding principle of Western economies.

4. The attack on Nationalism. The idea of a world view, a one world government, a 'New World Order'.

5. Once again the attack on Religion. According to Lennon these ideas are not fantasy but are practically achievable.

6. The belief that everything belongs to the State. The abolition of private property, individuals should worship the state and recognise it as their 'Rabb' (sustainer).

7. A century after Marx's death, there were well over a billion persons who were at least nominally his followers. That fact led many communists to hope that the future might well see the eventual world triumph of Marxism.

(taken from 'Music Exposed' by Siraj Yusuf Lambat 'Time Publications')

2007-03-25T16:23:00.001-07:00

The specific trait which distinguishes man from all else in creation is his ability to read all of God's signs.The human intellect is in a sense the ultimate decoder which when is refined and polished can witness the face of the divine in all of its many modes in all of creation; for as the Quran says: "Wheresoever you turn there is the face of God"(2:115). To see all the signs of God and be called to the remembrance of God in all modes is thus the human norm.Islam understands such knowledge to be the goal of all religions.This is not the knowledge of facts and information but knowledge of things as they are in themselves.A knowledge in which everything is given its proper place because everything is seen in relation to God, and the relations between things are understood on the basis of their relationship to God.

From this point of view to know something outside of God is not to truly know them, for nothing can exist outside of its relationship to God; no existent exists outside its dependence upon Absolute Existence.It is for this reason that the Prophet Muhammad (sws) would often pray: "Oh God show me the things as they are in themselves.Show me the truth as the truth and give me strength to follow it.Show me falsehood as falsehood and give me strength to avoid it."

سري سانكاراشاريا

2007-03-25T16:13:00.000-07:00

When the mind
becomes purified
like a mirror,
Knowledge is
revealed in it.
Care should
therefore be taken
to purify the mind.

- Sri Sankaracharya

قلق جدا

2007-03-16T13:44:00.000-07:00

Ma3zoumi 3al 3asha il youm 3and nas. Ma ba3rif sho bedi 3amil.
Khayfi shway ou maba3rif sho bedi ilbous.Shilta la haydeekil post
la ano ma 3ajbitni izyadi.Ba3dni 3am bitktoub ou ma khalastoun.
Bas khalisoun ra7 ib3atoun.Mashghouli ikteer hal iyam ou ma 3am boufda.
3am doub kil il tayib il shatwiyi ou 3am bikwi kil il ityab il sayfiyi.
Mabsouta ikteer inou 3am bit erib il sayfiyi.Inshallah inzal 3al libnen ha
sayfiyi.Lazim la ano fi 3aris mouhim ou daroori roo7.Ou kamen bedi 3awid
3an sayfiyi il madyi.Hayda kil il kalam for right now.

new currency

2007-03-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

I have no idea whether this currency is actually real or if its just a hoax.I found this while I was doing some research about Iran.I have heard a lot of
conspiracies about General Aoun and why he has been putting his hands together with Al Seyed Hassan Nasrallah.

Possible conspiracy: General Aoun knows that the Shiaa in Lebanon are gaining more power, so if he has acceptance of the majority he might be approved to get a higher position than where he is now.

Anything is possible.....
But I try not belive everything that I hear especially when it comes to politics.

Lebanese Advertisement

2007-03-11T18:07:00.000-07:00

Lebanese advertisement is really intriguing.It really makes you want to eat foul.Im not a very big fan of beans but when it comes to foul and hummous I can make some exceptions.

Scent of the Levant

صدر

An epiphany or just a sign of maturity?

6 minutes left

HAS IT BEEN A YEAR?

Am I really here?

it's official

notes from the bus

Coming of Age

Sofien’s Voyage to San Francisco

matrimonial ennui

Free Omar Khadr

let me be

recap

Fed up with politics, man eats vote

April 17th - Palestinian prisoners day

Freud on the Arab-Israeli conflict

a sneaky trip

Ageh Ye Rooz by Faramarz Aslani

Man or Animal?

I'm not celebrating valentine's

early spring

sticks of wonder

a special day

so it seems...

Tribute to ex blogger

Tent Glimpse

Did Iceland Teen Call Secret White House Phone?

Refugees Resort to Prostitution

major quiz

Which College Major Should You Be?

World Aids Day, December 1

before 1979

Raya Hilal "Leih Nasseeni"

in to to ...

video israel dosen't want you to see

mahabat paggle

middle eastern inspiration in fashion

Makeup Tips

survey for ladies ... sorry guys

Ramadan Kareem ;)

soleil d'aout

my view from shibakit il seeyara

Arrival

Vacation Update n.1

Liberation or Confinement ?

mini political analysis

a new day

july 12

A cup of coffee is remembered for forty years…

Dear Traveler

fade into you

May His Soul Rest In Peace

Rachida

harb

new invention

quote by Mone

Stop Sectarianism Before It Stops Us

peace

quote

quote

Stop the Clash of Civilizations

look at your right hand

Amazing facts from Quran

Red Rose

Middle Eastern Mickey Mouse

Petrolyphs

sho hayda? lol

Rely Upon Allah

النبض

A Miracle Right in the Palm of Your Hand

the scent of resistance

mas amor

A Lebanese Documentary

point of view

post card from lebanon

Fadi Khatib makes an amazing slam dunk

quote

...

can you read this?